An armed state

January 24, 2013

When I read about the gun control debate, it reminds me of my experiences many years ago.

In the spring of 1968, having returned from two tours along the Cambodian border, my last Army duty was as a stateside training instructor. One night, word went out that due to disturbances following Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, we would be assigned to police intercity neighborhoods nearby. I distinctly remember many of us remarking, “What the hell do we know about policing rioters?” It wasn’t the same as in Vietnam where we could fire fully automatic weapons in coordinated military sweeps. We would be in highly congested communities where bullets could fly anywhere. Luckily, since I was soon due to be discharged I was dismissed from duty.

Later as a college student, anti-war demonstrations were occurring at my campus and national guardsmen armed with M14 assault rifles were assigned to control protesters. As before, I again wondered, “What do the guardsmen know about police work and what would they do if confronted?”

That day on the Kent State University campus guardsmen fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others – one of whom suffered permanent paralysis. Two of the four dead were nowhere near the demonstration and one was an ROTC cadet.

The NRA proposes everyone should be allowed to own and ‘conceal-carry’ virtually any type of weapon if they want one – almost fully automatic, banana clip capacity, no background checks needed and only a couple hours of safety training. (This is the safety lock, flip it on or off; Don’t point it at your head.)

That qualifies them to be the nation’s self-anointed vigilantes capable of patrolling streets, malls, theaters, hospitals, schools and parks.

The only problem is, while it allows them the firepower to police, it doesn't give them the capabilities to police. As with me or the national guardsmen, even hundreds of hours of arms instruction is no substitute for intensive training as a law enforcement officer. Ask any police officer, it’s entirely unique and challenging. Allowing novices to have policing powers is akin to sanctioning someone to drive in the Indy 500 after getting their driver’s permit.

More than anything else, the notion of encountering hundreds of Rambo wannabes (more likely Barney Fifes) on the streets makes me truly fear for my safety.